Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr 19:12:e17290.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.17290. eCollection 2024.

Relationships among barodontalgia prevalence, altitude, stress, dental care frequency, and barodontalgia awareness: a survey of Turkish pilots

Affiliations

Relationships among barodontalgia prevalence, altitude, stress, dental care frequency, and barodontalgia awareness: a survey of Turkish pilots

Celalettin Topbaş et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Background: Gas expansion in body cavities due to pressure changes at high altitudes can cause barodontalgia. This condition may compromise flight safety.

Aim: To investigate relationships among barodontalgia awareness, dental visit frequency, and barodontalgia prevalence in civilian and military pilots operating at high altitudes.

Materials and methods: Civilian pilots from Turkish Airlines and military pilots from the Turkish Air Force, flying between November 2022 and January 2023, participated in this study. A 20-question survey was administered to 750 pilots, covering topics such as barodontalgia awareness, dental visit frequency, breaks after dental treatments, in-flight pain, and pain type and severity. The voluntary surveys were distributed by email.

Results: Of the 750 pilots, 526 completed the survey; 61% were aware of barodontalgia, and 81% of pilots who had experienced it reported pain at altitudes <2000 feet. The study revealed higher barodontalgia awareness among pilots who had experienced it, with the highest prevalence among jet pilots. Pilots with barodontalgia also showed a higher frequency of dental visits (p < 0.001). Additionally, this group reported more frequent interruption of flight due to dental treatment (IFDT), more problems experienced in flights after treatment (PFAT), and higher instances of bruxism or teeth clenching during flight, suggesting stress and anxiety (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Barodontalgia, a type of pain linked to stress, significantly impacts pilot performance, and can threaten flight safety, even at lower altitudes. Thus, there is a need to educate pilots about stress management, barodontalgia awareness, and the importance of regular dental check-ups.

Keywords: Altitude; Aviation dentistry; Barodontalgia; Dental check-up; Dental visit; Dentistry; Endodontics; Flight safety; Pilots; Tooth pain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Nonparametric box plot of dental visit frequencies (DVF) for different levels of frequency (complaint: 1, once a year; 2, every six months; 3, in pilot groups with and without barodontalgia).
The DVF of the group with barodontalgia was significantly higher compared to the group without barodontalgia (Mann–Whitney U Test, non-parametric).

References

    1. Al-Hajri W, Ebtissam A-M. Prevalence of Barodontalgia among pilots and divers in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Saudi Dental Journal. 2006;18:125–133.
    1. Al-Khawalde M, Ghanam MAAl, Khazaaleh N, Khawaldeh HAl, Habashneh R. The prevalence of Barodontalgia among Jordanian Military Pilots. Journal of the Royal Medical Services. 2016;23:27–33. doi: 10.12816/0027102. - DOI
    1. Alwohaibi DM, Alohali LM, Al-Takroni GS, Al-Abdulwahab B, El-Metwally A. Dental and orofacial barotraumas among Saudi military naval divers in king abdul aziz naval base armed forces in Jubail, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study. International Society of Preventive and Community Dentistry. 2020;10:643–651. doi: 10.4103/jispcd.JISPCD_165_19. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Calder IM, Ramsey JD. Ondontecrexis-the effects of rapid decompression on restored teeth. Journal of Dentistry. 1983;11:318–323. doi: 10.1016/0300-5712(83)90116-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Carlson OG, Halverson BA, Triplett RG. Dentin permeability under hyperbaric conditions as a possible cause of barodontalgia. Undersea Biomedical Research. 1983;10:23–28. - PubMed